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| Bethune of Blebo |
The Blebo branch of the family was founded by Andrew Bethune (c.1602-53), fourth son of David Bethune of Balfour, who was a merchant in Edinburgh and Paris. He seems to have resided in Paris during the Civil War, but returned to Scotland in 1649 and purchased the lands of Blebo and Overmagask (Fife) in that year. When he died his children were all very young, and his widow, Margaret, took as her second husband a controversial Glasgow clergyman, the Rev. Donald Cargill (c.1619-81), who was deprived of his living in 1662 and eventually executed for treason. Margaret, however, died in 1656, and her son Andrew at the tender age of 17 in 1661, when Blebo passed to his younger brother, John Bethune (c.1645-c.1708). John married twice and had at least nine children, with three of his daughters marrying clergymen. His eldest surviving son was James Bethune (1671-1705), who died in the lifetime of his father, and it was therefore the latter's son, John Bethune (1698-1779) who inherited Blebo on the death of his grandfather. In the 18th century, several members of the extended family became surgeons, including John's brother James Bethune (1702-67), who practised at Brentford (Middx), and John's son, George Bethune (d. 1774) of Cupar (Fife), but John's heir was Henry Bethune (d. 1782), who died unmarried. Henry's heir was his sister, Margaret Bethune (c.1729-91), who in many ways is the central figure in the story of this family. In the late 1760s, when she was a spinster of about forty living in the household of her father, she met the romantic figure of Sir William Sharp, 6th baronet, who after being captured, convicted and initially sentenced to death for his part in the 1745 rebellion, escaped and pursued a military career in the French and Portuguese armies. In 1769 he was formally pardoned for his role in the '45 and came back to Scotland to visit his recently widowed mother. Sir William and Margaret Bethune may or may not have married (no record of a marriage has ever been found, but the register for the most likely parish does not survive for most of the 18th century), but they certainly had a child, known later as Alexander Sharp Bethune (1771-1847), who was born after his father had apparently abandoned Margaret and returned to his command in Portugal. There Sir William contracted a further marriage with a Portuguese lady whom he had also made pregnant, and whom he again abandoned before returning to London, where he died in penury in 1780.
Back in Scotland, Margaret Bethune (who had reverted to her maiden name) became aware of Sir William's Portuguese marriage and of his death, and married for a second time, in 1782, to an Edinburgh lawyer, William Chalmers (1744-1807), to whom she made over the Blebo estate for life, with remainder to her son by Sharp. Chalmers subsequently took the name Bethune. The curious thing is that Alexander never claimed or used his father's baronetcy. This could be because he and his mother believed that Sharp's Portuguese marriage predated his Scottish one, and that the latter was therefore bigamous; or it could be because there never was a Scottish marriage, and that Alexander was straightforwardly illegitimate. In 1916, when Alexander's grandson claimed the baronetcy, a committee of the Privy Council took the former view, and allowed the claim on the basis that in Scots law, if either or both parties to a bigamous marriage entered on it in innocence, the children of the marriage would be regarded as legitimate. In the absence of evidence for a Scottish marriage, and in view of the precise wording of Alexander's baptism entry, however, it seems to the present author that the simpler explanation for Alexander's failure to claim the baronetcy is more likely.
Sir William Sharp 'left only debts' at his death, but what Alexander did inherit from him was an aptitude and enthusiasm for the military life. He joined the army in 1789, and rose steadily through the ranks over the next twenty years, retiring on half-pay as a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1814. Before that, he had spent several years as a prisoner of war in France, but I have been unable to establish where he was captured or how long he was held. Soon after his retirement, his stepfather died and he came into the Blebo estate, and it seems likely that the building of the present house followed soon afterwards, although stylistically it could have been built earlier, by his stepfather. In 1820, aged nearly fifty, he married the daughter of a neighbouring landowner, and together they produced two sons and two daughters. The heir to Blebo was his elder son, Alexander Bethune (1824-1900), who after a brief military career and some globetrotting, settled down at Blebo to a life of farming, local public affairs, and sport. The Agricultural Depression of the 1880s seems to have had a devastating effect on the economy of the estate, and by the end of his life he had simply run out of money. His net worth when he died was £244, and the Blebo estate was sold by his executors to clear his debts. His only son, later Sir Alexander Sharp Bethune (1860-1917), 9th bt., became a director of companies owning tea and rubber plantations and somewhat retrieved the family finances. He lived in Surrey, where he died a few months after his success in reviving the baronetcy. The title passed to his only son, Sir Alexander Maitland Sharp Bethune (1909-97), 10th bt., but became extinct on his death.
The estate was sold in 1900 for £38,000 to William Low, owner of a Dundee-based chain of grocery stores, who extensively enlarged and remodelled it to the designs of James Findlay of Dundee in 1903-04. He extended the house to the north, adding a conspicuous circular entrance tower at the north-east corner and a service wing at the north-west angle, and excavated the land around the Georgian house to expose the basement and give the house a greater presence in the landscape. He also reconstructed the roof of the house, no doubt adding the dormer windows and the balustrading around the top of the Georgian bow.
Blebo House, Fife
Almost certainly, the Bethune family had a house on this estate before the the late 18th or early 19th century, but nothing seems to be known about it; not even if it stood on the present site. The existing building started life as a modest neo-classical house, of three widely-spaced bays by two, and of two storeys above a concealed basement. The date of the building is unclear, but it seems likely to have been built for Alexander Sharp Bethune (1771-1847), after he returned from the Napoleonic wars and was confirmed in his estate by the Prince Regent in 1815. The only external feature of note was a full-height semi-circular bow in the centre of the south (garden) front. The house was built of coursed stone rubble but given a smoother appearance by crisp white harling.
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| Blebo House: view from the south-east after the additions of 1903, from an old postcard. |
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| Blebo House: the entrance tower and service wing added in 1903-04. |
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| Blebo House: plan after alterations of 1903, from The Builder. |
Internally, the house was extensively remodelled, although the drawing room retains Adam-style plasterwork, and the sitting room behind the curved bow retains a fine wood and gesso fireplace (which should be painted) and a simple contemporary cornice. Typical of the new interiors, finished in fumed oak and pitch pine, is the dining room, with a beamed and panelled ceiling and dado panelling that steps up to encompass the doorcase and Arts & Crafts mantlepiece. The billiard room below the drawing room is in a similar style.
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| Blebo House: dining room created in 1903-04. |
The grounds were evidently landscaped in the early 19th century, when a short approach drive was laid out from the west, with a Gothick lodge at the gate, and a much longer and more picturesque drive was created, leading north through Kemback Den to the village of Kemback.
Descent: sold to Andrew Bethune (c.1602-53); to son, Andrew Bethune (1644-61); to brother, John Bethune (c.1645-c.1708); to grandson, John Bethune (1698-1779); to son, Henry Bethune (d. 1782); to sister, Margaret (c.1728-91), wife of Sir William Sharp (d. 1807), 6th bt. and later of William Chalmers (later Bethune) (1744-1807) to whom she left it for life, with remainder to her son, Alexander Sharp Bethune (1771-1847); to son, Alexander Bethune (1824-1900), whose executors sold 1900 to William Low (c.1858-1936); to widow, Isabel Sands Low (d. 1950) and daughter, Miss Janet I. Low (d. 1962), who sold 1951 to Margrave Estates Ltd. of Leeds; sold 1952 to Andrew Erskine Orr, veterinary surgeon; sold 1984...Mr & Mrs Ian Myers (fl. 1993)... James Gordon Reid QC (b. 1952); sold 2020.
Bethune family of Blebo House
Bethune, Andrew (c.1602-53). Fourth son of David Bethune of Balfour (Fife) and his wife Margaret, daughter of Andrew Wardlaw of Torrie, born about 1602. He was apprenticed to William Dick of Edinburgh, merchant, 10 July 1616, and after completing his apprenticeship became a successful merchant in Edinburgh and Paris (France). He married, c.1640, Margaret (d. 1656), daughter of Nichol Brown of Edinburgh, merchant, and had issue:
(1) David Bethune (b. 1641), baptised at Edinburgh, 1 October 1641; probably died young and is unlikely to be the man of this name apprenticed to Charles Charteris of Edinburgh, merchant, 21 July 1669;(2) Margaret Bethune (b. 1643), baptised at Edinburgh, 11 January 1643; married, 4 December 1663 at Kemback, James Lundie of Clatto, and had issue;(3) Andrew Bethune (1644-61), baptised at Edinburgh, 10 April 1644; was served heir to his father in the lands and barony of Blebo, 9 June 1657; died unmarried at Bandon, 16 May, and was buried at Kemback, 28 May 1661;(4) John Bethune (c.1645-c.1708) (q.v.);(5) Mary Bethune; married, c.1664, William Bethune of Craigfoodie, Dairsie (Fife), advocate, second son of Robert Bethune of Bandon, and had issue five sons and four daughters;(6) Elizabeth Bethune (fl. 1656); died unmarried;(7) Catherine Bethune (b. 1647), baptised at Edinburgh, 17 October 1647; died young.
On his return to England from France, he purchased the lands of Blebo and Overmagask from Peter Hay of Blebo in 1649.
He died 3 June, and was buried at Kemback (Fife), 6 June 1653. His widow married 2nd, about 11 August 1655, Rev. Donald Cargill (c.1619-81), minister at Glasgow (deprived 1662), who was later one of the founders of the Cameronians or Reformed Presbyterians and was executed for treason; she died 12 August 1656.
Bethune, John (c.1645-c.1708). Third son of Andrew Bethune (c.1602-53) and his wife Margaret, daughter of Nichol Brown of Edinburgh, merchant, born about 1645. He married 1st, 1668 (contract 11 February) at Edinburgh, Katherine, daughter of George Home (d. 1650) and sister of George Home of Wedderburn, and 2nd, 1676, with 6,000 marks, Alison (b. 1657), youngest daughter of James Cheap of Ormiston and Rossie, and had issue:
(1.1) Andrew Bethune (b. 1669), baptised at Kemback, 6 January 1669; died young;(1.2) George Bethune (b. 1670), baptised at Kemback, 28 January 1670; died young;(1.3) James Bethune (1671-1705) (q.v.);(1.4) Katherine Bethune (b. 1672), baptised at Kemback, 1 March 1672; probably died young;(1.5) John Bethune (1673-1714), baptised at Kemback, 10 June 1673; collector of customs at Kirkcaldy; married, 15 November 1696 at Edinburgh, Jean, daughter of Sir James Smollett, kt., of Bonhill (Dunbartons.), and had issue one son and two daughters; died November 1714; will confirmed at St Andrews, 30 March 1715;(2.1) Mary Bethune (fl. 1705); married, 13 August 1705 at St Andrews and St Leonards (Fife), as his second wife, Rev. William Pitcairn (c.1673-1722), minister of Collessie (Fife), and had issue two sons and five daughters;(2.2) Henry Bethune (fl. 1711); 'heir of provision' to his father;(2.3) Elizabeth Betune (d. 1763); married, 19 March 1707, Rev. William Knox (c.1678-1746), minister of Dairsie, son of Rev. Simon Knox, and had issue seven sons and five daughters; died 22 December 1763;(2.4) Katherine Bethune (d. 1770); married, 2 December 1707, John Stark (d. 1748) of Ballindean, minister of Logie, and had issue six sons and one daughter; died 29 January 1770.
He inherited the Blebo House estate from his elder brother in 1661, and was infest in the lands, 3 July 1662.
He died about 1708. His first wife died in or before 1676. His second wife's date of death is unknown.
Bethune, James (1671-1705). Third, but eldest surviving son of John Bethune (c.1645-c.1708) and his first wife, Katherine, sister of George Home of Wedderburn, baptised at Kemback, 2 February 1671. He married, 23 December 1696 at Abbotshall (Fife), Margaret (d. by 1711), eldest daughter of Sir James Wemyss, 1st bt., of Bogie, and had issue:
(1) John Bethune (1698-1771) (q.v.);(2) Henry Bethune (d. 1769) of Clatto; married, 11 May 1723 at St Andrews (Fife), Margaret, daughter of John Craigie of Dunbairnie, and had issue three sons and three daughters; died at St. Andrews (Fife), 2 December 1769;(3) James Bethune (1702-67), baptised at Abbotshall (Fife), 2 November 1702; apprenticed to Robert Hope of Edinburgh, surgeon, 9 January 1719, and became a surgeon in Brentford (Middx); acquired the lands of Nydie, which he entailed on his brothers and their children, 1747; married Sarah [surname unknown] and had issue one daughter; died September 1767 and was buried at Brentford, 9 October 1767; will proved in the PCC, 2 October 1767;(4) Alison Bethune (fl. 1767); married, 5 June 1731, John Drew (d. by 1767); living as a widow in St. Andrews (Fife), 1767;(5) Margaret Bethune (d. 1754); married, as his second wife, John Corstophine of Nydie, and had issue; died 14 March 1754.
He died in the lifetime of his father, July 1705. His widow married 2nd, 15 July 1706, as his second wife, Philip Hamilton (b. c.1669) of Kilbrackmont (who m3, 1711 (contract 22 December), Helen, daughter of Thomas Fotheringham of Ballindean and widow of Andrew Coupar of Lochblair), and died in or before 1711.
Bethune, John (1698-1779). Eldest son of James Bethune (c.1670-1705) and his wife Margaret, eldest daughter of James Wemyss of Bogie, baptised at Abbotshall (Fife), 19 January 1699. He married, 1 November 1724 in Edinburgh, Janet (d. 1778), daughter of Henry Scrimgeour WS of Edinburgh, and had issue:
(1) Henry Bethune (d. 1782) (q.v.);(2) George Bethune (d. 1774), of Kingusk (Fife), which he sold to Sir Robert Anstruther of Balcaskie (Fife); probably the man of this name apprenticed to Peter Adie of Edinburgh, surgeon, 5 July 1758 and later a physician at Cupar (Fife); died 1774;(3) Margaret Bethune (c.1729-91) (q.v.);(4) Agnes Bethune (fl. 1747);(5) Elizabeth Bethune (fl. 1747);(6) Janet Bethune (fl. 1747).
He inherited the Blebo estate from his grandfather in about 1708 and came of age about 1719.
He died at Blebo, 16 December, and was buried at Kemback, 20 December 1779. His wife died at Blebo, 7 March 1778.
Bethune, Henry (d. 1782). Elder son of John Bethune (c.1698-1771) and his wife Janet, daughter of Henry Scrimgeour WS of Edinburgh. He was unmarried and without issue.
He inherited the Blebo estate from his father in 1779.
He died at Blebo, 3 February, and was buried at Kemback, 8 February 1782.
Bethune, Margaret (c.1729-91). Eldest daughter of John Bethune (1698-1779) and his wife Janet, daughter of Henry Scrimgeour WS, born about 1729. She is said to have married 1st, about 1770, Sir William Sharp* (1729-80), 6th bt., of Scotscraig, and 2nd, 25 August 1782 at Blebo, William Chalmers WS (1744-1807) of Raddernie, Principal Clerk of Session, who took the name and arms of Bethune of Blebo. She had issue:
(1.1) Alexander Sharp (later Bethune) (1771-1847) (q.v.).
She inherited the Blebo estate from her brother in 1782 and in 1783 settled it on her husband for life and their issue, with remainder to the son of her first marriage.
She died in Edinburgh, 26 January 1791. Her first husband is said to have 'died alone, in a lodging house' in London, 'leaving nothing but debts', 13 February 1780, and was buried at St. Marylebone. Her second husband married 2nd, 29 March 1792 at Bellfield, Isobel (1760-1830), daughter of James Morrison of Naughton (Fife), and had issue one daughter; he died 28 February and was buried at Kemback, 4 March 1807.
* No record of this marriage has ever been found, and it may never have taken place, although as no register of marriages for the estate church at Kemback survives between 1703 and 1787, this cannot be proved. Sir William was among the Jacobite rebels sentenced to death for their part in the 1745 rebellion; after representations by his professors at St Andrews University, he was repreived on account of his tender years and interned. In 1747 he escaped and joined the French army, in which he rose to be a captain. In 1761 he resigned his commission and returned to Britain, where he contrived to join a group of experienced officers being assembled to assist the Portuguese army (Maj., 1762; Col., 1763; Brig., 1765; Maj-Gen., 1775). In 1769 he obtained an official pardon for his part in the '45 and returned to Scotland to see his widowed mother. There he met Margaret Bethune and is said to have married her prior to the birth of their son. In 1916 it was held that he had previously contracted a marriage with a Portuguese lady who survived him, and had issue a daughter, and that his marriage to Margaret was therefore biagmous, but that under Scots Law where a marriage turned out to be null because of such a pre-existing impediment, the children would nevertheless be legitimate if either or both of the parents was in honest ignorance of the existence of the impediment. However it is now known that Sir William's marriage to Ana Francisca da Gama Lobo, daughter of Lt-Col. Francisco Xavier da Silva Lobo did not take place until 1777. It therefore seems likely that his son Alexander failed to claim the baronetcy not because he believed he was illegitimate as the child of a bigamous union but more simply because his parents had never been married, and that the decision of the baronetcy committee of the privy council in 1916 was founded on inaccurate information.Sharp (later Bethune), Lt-Gen. Alexander (1771-1847). Only son of Sir William Sharp (1729-80), 6th bt., of Scotscraig, and his wife or partner Margaret Bethune, baptised at Blebo, 20 August 1771. He believed he was not entitled to succeed his father as 7th baronet of Scotscraig, and never claimed or used the title. An officer in the army (Ensign, 1789; Lt., 1792; Capt. 1793; Maj., 1802; Lt-Col., 1809; retired on half-pay, 1814; Col., 1819; Maj-Gen., 1830; Lt-Gen., 1841), he was wounded in 1801 and held as a prisoner of war for several years during the Napoleonic wars. In 1815 he had royal licence to take the name and arms of Bethune in lieu of Sharp. He married, 20 April 1820 at Clatto (Fife), Maria (d. 1886), daughter of Robert Low of Clatto, and had issue:
(1) Susan Bethune (1821-1908), born 18 June and baptised at Kemback, 29 June 1821; married, 3 May 1840 at Kemback, David Gillespie (1814-99) of Kirkton and Mountquhanie (Fife), and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 6 December 1908;(2) Margaret Bethune (1823-99), baptised at Kemback, 31 January 1823; married 1st, 26 March 1857 at Edinburgh, George Patton (1803-69)* of the Cairnies (Perths.), MP for Bridgwater, 1866 and then Lord Justice Clerk as Lord Glenalmond, third son of James Patton of the Cairnies, sheriff-clerk of Perthshire, but had no issue; married 2nd, 2 January 1871 at Edinburgh, Maj. Robert Malcolm of Royal Engineers; died 7 November 1899 and was buried at Monzie (Perths.);(3) Alexander Bethune (1824-1900) (q.v.);(4) Robert Bethune (1827-1904), born 29 July and baptised at Kemback, 30 August 1827; an officer in the army (Ensign, 1845; Lt., 1846; Capt. retired as Maj., 1859), who served in the Crimean War and in India (twice mentioned in despatches), and later in the Fife Militia; after retirement, lived at Nydie (Fife); married, 24 January 1865 at Tunbridge Wells (Kent), Mary Louisa (1840-1920), daughter of Capt. William Amherst Hale (1809-44), and had issue three sons and five daughters; died in Earl's Court, London, 27 July 1904; will proved 22 September 1904 (estate £4,645).
He inherited the Blebo estate on the death of his stepfather in 1807 and was confirmed in his estate by the Prince Regent in 1815. He was probably responsible for building the present house at Blebo around 1815.
He died at Blebo, 28 December 1847. His wife died at Edinburgh, 24 January 1886.
* He committed suicide on 20 September 1869 being badly upset by the death of his brother, Thomas Patton WS of Glenalmond; the press had mistakenly announced his death instead of that of his brother.
Bethune, Alexander (1824-1900). Elder son of Lt-Gen. Alexander Sharp (later Bethune) (1771-1847) and his wife Maria, daughter of Robert Low of Clatto, baptised at Kemback, 11 August 1824. An officer in the army (Lt., 1842; retired 1848), and later in the Cupar Rifle Corps. He believed he was not entitled to succeed to the baronetcy of Scotscraig, and never claimed or used the title. An ardent Liberal in politics, he took an active part in local government and was a Commissioner of Supply and JP for Fife, and from 1854, also a DL for Fife. In the 1880s, he was also chairman of the committee to elect H.H. Asquith for the Fife East constituency. He was an all-round sportsman, being a capital shot, enthusiastic curler and billiards player. In his younger years he was keen on hunting, but after leaving the army he took up golf seriously. He was a member of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews from 1842, and played regularly, as well as arranging some famous professional matches. As a young man, he travelled to America and Canada and is said to have been one of the first Englishmen to extensively explore the Rocky Mountains. His obituarist described him as 'a gentleman of striking personality... independence of speech... and originality'. He married, 18 September 1849, at Dundee, Margaret (1826-90), fourth daughter of John Maxwell MD, and had issue:
(1) Mary Elizabeth Bethune (1851-1932), born 12 February 1851; lived at 39 High St., Elie (Fife); died unmarried, 28 May 1932 and was buried at Kemback, where she is commemorated on the family gravestone; will confirmed 29 July 1932 (estate £3,422);(2) (Katherine) Maria Bethune (1855-1938), born 13 September 1855; said to have spent several years in Germany before her marriage and to have travelled 'quite extensively' with her husband later on; she married, 22 July 1880 at Cupar Episcopal Church, her cousin, David Gillespie (1841-1911) of Montquhannie (which he sold 1906), sheriff substitute; as a widow she lived at Aberfoyle (Perths.) and later at St. Andrews, where she built a new house for herself; died without issue at St Andrews, 9 July 1938;(3) Sir Alexander Sharp Bethune (1860-1917), 9th bt., born 21 March 1860; chairman of Associated Tea Estates, Ceylon, and a director of Hidden Streams Rubber Syndicate Ltd and Karak Rubber Co. Ltd; built Russet House, Tadworth (Surrey); chairman of the Imperial Defence Council; successfully petitioned to be recognised as legitimate heir to the Sharp of Scotscraig baronetcy, December 1916, although consideration of this case was probably founded upon incorrect information about his great-grandfather's marriages; he married, 8 November 1889 at St John, Kensington (Middx), Elizabeth Carnegie (1864-1935), third daughter of Frederick Lewis Maitland-Heriot of Ramornie, and had issue one son and three daughters; died at Tadworth (Surrey), 31 March, and was buried at Kingswood (Surrey), 4 April 1917; will confirmed 17 July 1917 (estate £32,900).
He inherited the Blebo estate from his father in 1847, but after the death of his wife he retired to Elie (Fife). His executors sold the estate in 1900.
He died at Castlandhill, Inverkeithing, 10 May, and was buried at Kemback, 14 May 1900; his will was confirmed 17 September 1900 (estate £244). His wife died at Bideford (Devon), 10 May 1890.
Principal sources
G. MacGregor, The Red Book of Scotland, 2018, vol. 1, pp. 523-31; The Builder, 24 March 1906; J. Nicoll, Domestic architecture in Scotland: illustrations of Scottish domestic work of recent years, 1908, pl. 20; J. Gifford, The buildings of Scotland: Fife, 1988, p. 101;
Location of archives
Bethune of Blebo: deeds, estate and family papers, 1457-1900 [National Records of Scotland, GD7]; account book of John Bethune, 1720-40 [University of St Andrews Libraries & Museums ms38095]
Coat of arms
Azure a fess chequy Or and Gules between three lozenges of the second.
Can you help?
- Can anyone provide additional information about the ownership of Blebo House after 1951?
- Does anyone know where Alexander Sharp Bethune (1771-1847) was captured by the French and how long he was a prisoner of war?
- Can anyone provide photographs or portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
- If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.
Revision and acknowledgements
This post was first published 18 June 2025.
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